U.E. Systems of Elmsford New York, manufactures and sells devices used to detect and quantify faults in electrical equipment. For example, U.E. Systems sells various devices that use ultrasonic transducers to determine the fault status of electrical cabinets and the bearings of motors.
Ultrasonic sensors have been used in the past to detect ultrasonic energy generated by friction within mechanical devices, such as that created by deteriorated motor bearings. For example, U.S. Pat. No. Re. 33,977 to Goodman, et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 9,200,979 to Goodman et al., the contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, disclose such an ultrasonic fault detection device. With the disclosed devices the amount of mechanical friction a device is undergoing is related to the intensity of the generated ultrasonic energy. For example, faulty devices, such as bearings, generate a higher level of ultrasonic energy than do good bearings and thus, whether the bearings are good or bad can be detected.
However, the present art still suffers from a lack in accuracy. Specifically, the amplitude of an ultrasonic signal created by electrical discharge in an electrical cabinet or a worn bearing in a motor is not a completely accurate predictor of the condition of the electrical circuit or bearings.
Thus, what is needed in the art are apparatus, systems and methods that utilize additional data beyond the amplitude of the ultrasonic signal to determine the mechanical defects or fault state present in various electrical and mechanical devices.